Editorial

The Anilin Dye Situation in the United States.It is now more than a year since we considered this subject on page 354 of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for December, 1914. As pointed out at that time, the United States has long been practically dependent on Germany for the supply of anilin dyes. The colors are made from benzol, which in turn is manufactured from coal tar. The customary source of raw material is the coke furnace. It is a peculiar situation explained by economic conditions, that, although the United States produces perhaps three times as much coke as Germany, the latter country has been utilizing all of the by-products while we, in the United States, have let much escape into the air with smoke. This condition has permitted Germany to monopolize the anilin dye trade in the United States. The presence of German dyes has in the United States built up a custom and produced a sentiment in favor of the goods to the exclusion of home-made anilin dyes. Some months ago a person in a position to know whereof he spoke stated that about the only way that American anilin dyes could be sold to advantage before the war was to let them pass into the trade as of German production.

As soon as it became evident that the war was something more than of brief duration, the manufacture of anilin dyes in the United States received considerable encouragement. Efforts were made to utilize the coke furnaces in the manuacture of benzol. The output has consequently materially increased. War brings many complications and surprises. It was soon found that Europe was looking to the United States for material assistance in a supply of benzol for use in the manufacture of explosives. The coke manufacturers found the war demand for benzol a more profitable business than selling it at home for the manufacture of anilin dyes. Consequently the anilin dye market in the United States continues in rather a precarious condition. Some fabric manufacturers claim that it will be necessary to discontinue colored goods unless relief comes before long.

The drug trade may confidently look forward to a scarcity of anilin dyes and high prices prevailing for some time to come unless the war is brought to a sudden determination. Just how rapidly Germany can recover her industries and supply foreign countries with anilin dyes after the war is over, is beyond the scope of intelligent consideration, at this time.

In June, 1915 (page 164), we referred to the effort being made in England to establish the dyestuffs and fine chemical industry on a large scale

while the war is going on, so that it can be maintained after the close of hostilities. To just what extent the British plans have matured, is a matter of speculation at the present time. At the close of the war England may be found even a more formidable competitor for the dye trade of the world than the United States is likely to be.

The demand which pharmacists have for anilin dyes for use in staining histologic specimens is of minor consequence. The sale of dyes for domestic purposes is in itself a large item, but not of great consequence when compared with the demand made by dye houses, cotton mills, knitting factories and various other such industries.

Are You Preparing for the U. S. P. IX?—Every ten years a new U. S. Pharmacopoeia is placed on the market and becomes the legal standard for all of the drugs and chemicals which it defines. The time is now approaching when the U. S. P. VIII, which has served its purpose for the past decade, will be superseded by the U. S. P. IX. The Committee on Revision has about completed its work and the volume will be printed by order of the Board of Trustees and distributed through the usual channels. When it is definitely decided on what date the first bound copies of the Pharcacopoeia will be available, the Board of Trustees of the U. S. P. C. will fix a time when the Pharmacopoeia is to officially supersede the present revision. This will be sixty or ninety days after the work is available. Such an arrangement gives the retail pharmacists an opportunity to consider the new volume. Manufacturers can arrange for the changes in strength of preparations and other details that affect their business. Boards of pharmacy will announce a date when examinations are to be based on the new work. Applicants for registration in the various states will know when to discard the present Pharmacopoeia as a text-book and post up on the new revision before taking examinations. Students in the schools of pharmacy have already heard something about the proposed changes in the new official standard and will receive more instructions in this direction as soon as the new revision is available. It is not likely, however, that any school will be radical in its action of discarding the old Pharmacopoeia and taking up the new. Present senior classes will be permitted to graduate with such knowledge as they have gained from the U. S. P. VIII and what can be gathered from the U. S. P. IX after it is available. The students of the session of 1916-'17, however, will look upon our present pharmacopoeia as an historical volume.

The proposed changes in the new pharmacopoeia have been outlined by a series of articles in the Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association. These have been commented on in various other publications. Commentaries on the Pharmacopoeia, like the dispensatories and the various treatises on the practice of pharmacy published by

private enterprise will not be available for some time after the Pharmacopoeia is placed on sale. The Recognition of Science in England. The daily press and particularly publications usually known as "periodicals" are considering the value of science to a country during war and in times of peace. There is a general feeling that in England scientific workers have not been valued as has been the case in Germany. In discussing this subject, some of the English scientists point out that it will require considerable time to change public opinion so that science will no longer be looked upon as a kind of hobby followed by certain classes of people. Among several propositions looking to a greater recognition of the practical value of science is the suggestion that a minister of science be appointed with a seat in the cabinet. Attention is called to the fact that such a cabinet member should hold his seat solely on account of scientific ability and not from political relations. In the United States, the practical value of scientific work is constantly receiving recognition. Vast sums of money have been set apart by wealthy citizens to enable scientists to work along particular lines, unhampered by the necessities of every-day existence. We have in this country long had a wholesome regard for scientific work carried on in Germany. We have not always won as much recognition as we may have deserved from Germany, but we have certainly felt the stimulus of activities in that country. This is particularly true of work in the department of chemistry.

No one has ever suggested, as far as we know, a scientist as a member of the United States cabinet, but the proposal to place in the cabinet medical man as a representative of the science of health is in keeping with the spirit of the present popular attitude of public opinion in England. It is doubtful, however, whether the English Government can readily adapt itself to the appointment of a man of science with a full vote in the cabinet. Thus far the United States has hesitated in placing a health officer in the United States cabinet.

Drug Store Work as High School Work. It is now pretty generally understood that no one can enter pharmacy without a certain amount of high school training, or its educational equivalent. In Missouri and many other states, this is limited to one year of high school work. In some states, the requirement reaches full four years of high school training. The tendency is to raise the standard until all over the country boards of pharmacy will demand four years of high school work or its educational equivalent. The cities of Detroit and Chicago are meeting this condition by an arrangement which enables drug clerks to take special courses in the high school. The Detroit plan was discussed in these column, not long ago. The Chicago high school course for pharmacists permits clerks to spend part of the time in the drug store and attend high school a portion of the day.

This enables the clerk to gain drug store experience, earn something and at the same time receive the necessary high school training. What is more, the Chicago high schools give credit for certain kinds and amount of drug store experience. This may be substituted for a portion of the ordinary high school course and thus shorten the actual number of hours in the high school.

These arrangements seem to be working satisfactorily and if proven practical will be adopted by high schools in other cities. Meantime, it behooves the pharmacists to see to it that their apprentices have sufficient preliminary education to meet the requirements of the pharmacy laws of the states in which they are doing business.

Pharmacists and the War in Europe. The pharmacists of the United States feel that the war has played havoc with the drug trade. We, however, do not realize the extent of quite a different effect which the war has had and is having on pharmacy in Europe. The drain on the calling of pharmacy caused by pharmacists' enlisting in the war is very large. The professional service of the pharmacist is being appreciated along with that of the physicians and the trained nurses. In many cases, drug stores have been closed on account of no one to manage them. Pharmacy laws requiring registered pharmacists to look after the stores are being ignored in several of the countries. Pharmaceutical organizations in the war-affected countries manage to keep up in something more than name, but the subjects discussed are limited practically to those which concern the Thus we may conclude that while the world's greatest war has made itself felt in the drug trade of the United States, the pharmacists of this country are comparatively well off. Let us hope that we shall never have cause to experience the difficulties which are demoralizing pharmacy in the older countries.

war.

Pharmacopoeial Nomenclature does not change very radically from one revision of the Pharmacopoeia to another. It is not, however, as permanent as are some of the labels found in manufacturing and wholesale establishments. Periodicals devoted to the importing and jobbing trade also persist in continuing nomenclature which has long been discarded, not only by the Pharmacopoeia, but boards of pharmacy, schools of pharmacy and text and reference books. We refer particularly to the use of potash for potassium, soda for sodium, and the persistence of such synonyms as muriatic acid. It is really surprising how rapidly "phenol" is replacing the older term "carbolic acid." The daily press now handles phenol as easily as it once did carbolic acid. If importers, manufacturers and jobbers persist in the use of ancient nomenclature, the time will come when we will have two as separate and distinct lists of words for the designation of drugs as we now find in the patois of the street gamin and the lexicon of the author and teacher.

STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS

Perhaps It Will Be a Mayflower.-J. O. Burge, Ph. G., of Nashville, Tenn., says, "I was looking for a new pharmacopoeia as a Christmas gift but guess it will be an April fool. Won't it?"

What is the "Stevens" Bill?-A bill, introduced in Congress by Representative Stevens of New Hampshire, providing a remedy for the unfair competition of great trading monopolies with the independent merchants of the country.

Explosives Used in Warfare Depend Principally on Cotton. Glycerin is the next of importance. Sometimes wood meal is used. Such substances as starch and sugar can be employed but not to an advantage. Dynamite calls for diatomaceous earth. A large German gun will consume half a bale of cotton in the firing of a single shot.

Fewer Women in Medicine, But More in Pharmacy. -In 1904, there were 1129 women students in the medical schools. In 1913, the number was 631. We do not have the statistics in pharmacy but the number of women in the Colleges of Pharmacy seems to be on the increase. Some claim that the raised requirement for entrance to medical schools has caused the change.

Have a Set of Metric Weights and Measures.We are unable to think of any legitimate arguments in favor of transposing metric prescriptions into the apothecary system. The financial investment required for a set of metric weights and measures is very small. There is not only time required to figure out in the apothecary system the metric terms but the transposition is liable to lead to error.

Show Windows of Drugs. We are receiving considerable comment on the show window described on page 364 of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for December, 1915. J. A. Morlan, Ph. G., of the Judge & Dolph Drug Co., St. Louis, calls particular attention to the fact that this display contained very few specimens which are not common in the ordinary small drug store. He strongly urges other pharmacists to follow his example of making a drug display in a drug store window.

Anilin Colors, including the shades run into many thousands which have been distinguished and designated by number or name. Only a few of the staple colors were manufactured in this country prior to the war. An effort is being made to extend the list. Thus far, only a limited number of colors is being produced, consequently, the various shades and several colors are scarce or completely off the market. The war has cut off the supply of anilin colors from Germany.

Colorado is Dry and has been since January 1, 1916. Just how this will affect the drug business is something that only time and experience can develop. Our best advice is to go slow and sure and take no chances whatever under the new law. Phar

macists are, as a class, law-abiding citizens. Those in Colorado are particularly noted for business integrity. We anticipate having the opportunity to report that pharmacists are going on in the even tenor of their way without great annoyance on account of the new condition of affairs.

How Colored Paper Happened to Be.-The wife of an English paper-maker one day dropped a blue bag into a vat of pulp. When the workmen saw the colored paper they were astonished, and their employer was so angry at the mischance that his wife did not dare to confess her part in bringing it about. The paper was stored for years as a damaged lot, and finally the manufacturer sent it to his agent in London, and told him to get rid of it at any price. Fashion at once, marked it for her own. It was rapidly sold at a high price, and the manufacturer found it difficult to supply the great demand for colored paper.

How Canada Balsam is Gathered.-As a rule, entire families of balsam gatherers go into the woods where they camp for two or three months of each year. Their baggage consists chiefly of provisions, a stove, and some bedding. The women remain in camp to do the cooking and to strain the gum; they also transport the gum upon their backs in canisters of five gallons each to the nearest village store, where it is sold at the rate of about $2 a gallon in exchange for provisions. The men and boys go to pierce the blisters. The boys mount into the branches, while the older men work about the lower part of the tree. A large balsam fir tree rich in gum yields as much as a pound of balsam, but on an average the yield of each tree is not over eight ounces. One man with the help of two sons can gather from sunrise to sunset a gallon of balsam, but the man who works alone has done well when he has collected half a gallon.

How Irish Moss is Gathered for the Market. The harvesting of Irish moss is an industry that gives employment to many fishermen and others on the Massachusetts coast, says the American Druggist. It is a fairly profitable industry, the season lasting from May to September. Being found on rocks that are from 15 to 20 feet below tide, the collectors go out in sailboats or dories at half tide and come in at flood tide. The moss is scraped off the rocks with long rakes, each boat bringing in about 50 pounds. The manner in which the moss is prepared for the market was observed and noted by Prof. Henry Kraemer during a visit to Scituate, Mass. The moss is spread out on the beach, where it is exposed to the bleaching action of the sun and dew for a week. It is then enclosed in hogsheads, in which it is again saturated with sea water by rolling them in the marshes; after which it is again spread out and subjected to the bleaching process, this alternate treatment being repeated four or five times until the product is of a yellowish or white color. The final drying is done in barns, where the moss is stored until it is packed in 100-pound barrels at the end of the season. The moss is found in greatest abundance in the months of July and August.

STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS

Not

What They Seem.-Some reputations although in size are bulky, when they are analyzed are found to contain more inert than active constituents in their makeup.

Pride. If self-made men had only allowed themselves to remain God-made men, the world would be much happier. He who brags loudest of being a self-made man, will, on close scrutiny, prove to be nothing but a self-made ass.-[W. A. Hickey, Ph. B.

A Scrap-book is Useful as well as interesting. If faithfully kept, it will become a repository for formulas, interesting advertisements and various hints pertaining to your business. It will surprise you how often you will have occasion to use a carefully kept scrap-book.

Good Resolutions Are Always in Order. It is not necessary to wait until the new year before adopting the following declaration:

To take a good grip on the joys of life; to play the game like a man. To fight against nothing so hard as my own weaknesses, and endeavor to grow in strength a gentleman, and a Christian, so I may be courteous to men, faithful to friends, true to God. ■ fragrance in the path I tread.

Are the Expenses of the Great Trading Monopolies Less Than Those of the Average Retail Merchant?— No. A careful investigation by the magazine "System" shows that the average cost of doing business by many of these large concerns is 30 per cent, while the cost of the average small merchant is only 16 per cent.

Quality vs. Quantity.-A tin horn makes more noise than the soft echoes of a first cornet. "Well, every one to their own taste," the old woman said when she kissed the cow. Some want quantity, and some want quality. But Doctor Caspari thought "That good things always come in small packages." -[W. A. Hickey, Ph. B.

Women In Pharmacy are a decided success if the late Miss Cora Dow is taken as an example. Her successful life was terminated by tuberculosis at a comparatively early age. She left an annuity of $1200.00 per year for life to the manager of her business and established many other similar annuities for those who had helped her build up a very large fortune during her twenty-seven years in the retail drug basi

ness.

How a Board of Pharmacy Should Be Supported.Robert L. Morland says: "The Board of Pharmacy should be supported as at present by renewal fees. This method of supporting a State Board of Pharmacy is much better than that of receiving state aid, as in every state politicians try to influence examining bodies but more particularly every state supported body. In some states such boards are entirely political, which is much to be deplored."

Raising Peppermint and Spearmint. The yield of oil per acre varies widely, ranging from almost nothing to nearly 100 pounds. About 325 pounds of pep

permint and 340 pounds of spearmint are required to produce a pound of oil in commercial practice. The price varies as widely as the yield. For peppermint oil in tins, however, the average trade price for the last 40 years has been in the neighborhood of $2.50 a pound, although it has sometimes fallen as low as 75 cents. Spearmint oil, which used to be a little cheaper than peppermint, has averaged for the past 5 years $3.55 a pound. These prices, however, it must be remembered, are somewhat higher than those which the producer would receive.

Trade With India.-India has been characterized by a recent writer as "the treasure sink," and to an American commercial traveler it seems "like a bottomless pit, into which supplies may be sent in an endless stream." Certain it is that the Indian field is eminently worth cultivating, and that to work it effectively much information is needed, of a specific and not always readily available kind. Those engaged in the furtherance of American foreign trade have been devoting to it the most thorough and painstaking attention, and to these investigations a special timeliness has been imparted by the European war. India, in 1913-14, imported from Germany and Austria-Hungary, respectively, $41,092,000 and $13,920,000 worth of goods.

The Method of Collecting Canada Balsam is quite unique. Those who are familiar with the balsam fir tree recognize it by its thin, more or less smooth, close, grayish-brown bark marked by numerous projecting resin pockets or blisters. These blisters are filled with a limpid, very transparent and odorous resin which at ordinary temperature flows out freely when the projecting walls of the blisters are ruptured. The balsam gatherers go about from tree to tree rupturing all the resin pockets on the accessible parts of the tree by means of a hollow tube about three-eighths of an inch in diameter. The tube is held over the ruptured part of the blister for a few moments until the balsam is all drained through the hollow tube into the can below.

India a Market for the U. S.-An export field that has not in the past been given adequate consideration by American manufacturers-a field moreover of almost limitless potentialities is that of India. That empire, by reason of its vast population, its splendid (even if unequally distributed) resources, and the new wants created by the gradual development of modernity among an ancient people, presents to the American exporter a singularly attractive opportunity for the exercise of his commercial energy and acumen. It is a land where poverty exists by the side of almost fabulous splendor; where famine may succeed a time of plenty; where the intensity of tropical heat and the great rains of the monsoon cause strange conditions in the preservation and sale of merchandise; where religious beliefs or racial traditions may constitute the determining factors in the marketing of goods.

IN BRIEF

Stick to the thing you know.

Remember the Stevens Bill.

When you stop learning, you stop growing. Aluminum is the most abundant of all metals. Gentian root is scarcely obtainable at any price. Japan is the richest radium country in the world. Gold fish prove a paying side line in many drug stores.

German and Austrian firms control the gamboge market.

Have you renewed your certificate of registration for 1916?

Antimony enters largely into the manufacture of shrapnel.

The Mo. Ph. A. will meet at Excelsior Springs, June 13-16.

Oil of cloves is in much demand by manufacturers of vanillin.

St. Louis is the largest horse and mule market in the country.

It is with difficulty that cantharides is obtained from Russia.

It is almost impossible to obtain prime quality senna leaves.

The Illinois Pharmaceutical Association has about $2000.00 on hand.

How do you figure when arriving at the exact cost of a prescription?

Ballard, in 1826, was the first to use the bromides as therapeutic agents.

The Executive Committee of the Ill. Ph. A. has endorsed the Stevens Bill.

Pharmacists are for peace but did not take official part in Ford's peace party.

The Ill. Ph. A. has a committee to investigate the securing of greater publicity.

Postage stamps and postal cards are the only goods legitimately sold at cost.

Do you give proper attention to the sale of biological products in your store?

A new ore has been discovered in France which yields about 50% of phosphorus.

Are you filling any prescriptions at a financial loss? Perhaps you do not know.

How we do love an idle person who comes along and bothers us when we are busy?

Cincinnati has a greater variety of factories than any other city in the United States.

It is not sufficient to keep the poor in mind. Give them something to keep you in mind.

The Indians of the North had a proverb that "Doubt always travels on snowshoes."

Nature is a rag merchant who works up every shred and odd end into new creations.

Illinois has a Sunday closing law which is keeping some of the pharmacists guessing.

The newspapers are not exerting much influence in favor of war censorship in the United States. The Illinois Board of Pharmacy requires big mail order houses to conform to the State Pharmacy Law. Who waits always for something to turn up will be rewarded at last by his toes.-[Albany Journal. The prerequisite requirement of the Oregon Board of Pharmacy has been held as invalid by the attorney general.

The last page proofs of the U. S. P. IX are now being read. In a few weeks, at most, the book should be on the market.

Germany and Austria prohibit the exportation of digitalis to Sweden and Norway, which countries now look for American supplies.

Insecticides are of higher quality on account of the Insecticides Act of 1910, which is being enforced by the Department of Agriculture.

The Stevens Bill permits cash or any other discounts which are made uniform to the trade and give equal treatment to all buyers.

The difficulty in obtaining mercury from Mexico and the scarcity of supplies from California are given as an excuse for the high price.

Gasolin is handled by some pharmacists but not much of a drug. The advances in prices, however, are in keeping with those of important medicines.

The St. Louis Bar Association, organized in 1872, recently refused admission to the first woman who applied for membership. Women had better stay in pharmacy.

The Noble prize man this year is Professor Richard Willstatter, of the Imperial Institute of Chemistry, at Berlin. His prize work was on the coloring matter of plants.

When a St. Louis proprietor and clerk were held up, the boss lost fifty cents and the assistant $7.50 and watch. Does this show that it is more profitable to be clerk than proprietor?

The Stevens Bill is intended to protect the independent merchants from unfair competition and safeguard the public against dishonest advertising and false pretenses in merchandising.

This is the open season for Congressmen. According to the N. A. R. D. Journal, it is the time to let the candidates for election approach you and then set them right regarding the Stevens Bill and other subjects of vital interest to parmacists.

A Chicago physician was sentenced to a term of two years in the penitentiary and a fine of $2,500.00 and a pharmacist associated with him in violation of the Harrison Anti-Narcotic Law received a fine of $10,000.00 and a seven-year term in the penitentiary.

Abrus is well to the front in Part 2 of the United States Dispensatory and was at one time still more prominent in works on materia medica. It is again claiming its own as a remedy for trachoma. Pharmacists should become familiar with the drug which is commonly known as jequirity seed.